Europe Plagued by ‘One of the Worst Droughts since 2003’

Severe drought has severely affected Europe this summer

Parts of western, central and eastern Europe could continue to experience severe drought conditions in the foreseeable future, forecasters have warned.

Severe drought has affected much of the European continent since June 2015, one of the worst since the drought and heat wave of summer of 2003, according to the latest report by the JRC’s European Drought Observatory (EDO). “The drought, which particularly affects France, Benelux, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, northern Italy and northern Spain, is caused by a combination of prolonged rain shortages and exceptionally high temperatures,” said the report.

The prolonged rainfall shortage (since April) and the temperature anomalies in July caused a severe drought which affected soil moisture content and vegetation conditions. Furthermore, the areas with the largest rainfall deficits also recorded exceptionally high maximum daily temperatures: in some cases these reached record values.

Another characteristic of this period was the persistence of the thermal anomalies: in the entire Mediterranean region, and particularly in Spain, the heat wave was even longer than that of 2003, with maximum daily temperatures consistently above 30°C for durations of 30 to 35 days (even more than 40 days in Spain).

 

Areas with the lowest soil moisture content since 1990 in July 2015 (in red) and in July 2003 (in blue). Source: JRC-EDEA database (EDO)

Temperature Analysis
Almost the entire European continent has been experiencing temperatures that were significantly above the seasonal norm since the beginning of June 2015. Spain, Benelux, Germany and France recorded maximum daily temperatures of up to 10°C above normal values in June., said the report. “Conditions got even worse in July, with absolute maximum daily values above 34-35°C in almost the entire EU and absolute maximum temperatures that were well above 40°C in many areas (e.g. 47.3°C in Apulia, 46.5°C in Andalucia, 46.2°C in southern Bulgaria and outhern Romania, 45.7°C in Alentejo, 44.7° in Sicily). Moreover, several areas in Germany, Benelux, France, Spain, Italy and even in Austria, the Czech Republic, the UK and Sweden recorded their highest maximum daily temperatures for July since 1975.”

Drought News August 2015 by EDO is posted at

Click to access EDODroughtNews201508.pdf

65% of Africa’s Arable Land ‘Too Damaged’ for Food Production

NO ORDINARY MATTER:

Soil degradation affecting 180 million people in SSA alone

The impacts of land degradation in Africa are substantial: 65% of arable land, 30% of grazing land and 20% of forests are too damaged for food production, according to a report published by the Montpellier Panel—a group of agriculture, ecology and trade experts from Africa and Europe.

“Affecting nearly one-third of the earth’s land area, land degradation reduces the productive capacity of agricultural land by eroding topsoil and depleting nutrients resulting in enormous environmental, social and economic costs. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) an estimated 180 million people are affected, while the economic loss due to land degradation is estimated at $68 billion per year.”

Types of soil degradation in Africa. Source: MONTPELLIER PANEL December 2014 Report.  Read more…

 Related Links

• YESTERDAY Was World Soil Day 2014 December 6, 2014

YESTERDAY Was World Soil Day 2014

CRITICALLY LOW LEVELS of Topsoil Have Already Been Reached: FIRE-EARTH, EDRO

Did you know?

Soil is the basis for food, feed, fuel and fibre production and for services to ecosystems and human well-being. It is the reservoir for at least a quarter of global biodiversity, and therefore requires the same attention as above-ground biodiversity. Soils play a key role in the supply of clean water and resilience to floods and droughts. The largest store of terrestrial carbon is in the soil so that its preservation may contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation. The maintenance or enhancement of global soil resources is essential if humanity’s need for food, water, and energy security is to be met. FAO

And now, the rest of the story:

Topsoil

[The following was published by our colleagues at EDRO on February 18, 2008. Reprinted with permission from EDRO. ]

No Good for Farming!

“A [farmer] took up land [in Saskatchewan], dug a cellar and built a frame house on top of it; ploughed up the prairie and grew wheat and oats. After 20 years he decided the country was no good for farming, for eight feet of his soil had gone and he had to climb up into his house.” —Richard St. Barbe Baker, My Life, My Trees [Quoted by John Jeavons in How to Grow More Vegetables]

Land Use And Topsoil

Once A Forest! Photo credit: UNEP

Topsoil

Measuring an average of about 6.6 inches (16.76 centimeters) deep, topsoil is the upper layer of earth’s crust. Topsoil comprises of a mix of humus, mineral and composted materials giving rise to most of the soil’s biological activity and supplying nutrients to plants and therefore to animals. After air and water, topsoil is Earth’s most vital resource.

Topsoil: Wild Facts

Table TS1. Topsoil: Wild Facts
Note: The average bulk density of topsoil is calculated at about 1.4 gcm^-3

Causes of soil degradation

• Soil erosion, salination, deforestation, overexploitation for fuelwood, overgrazing, nutrient depletion, large scale agricultural activities, industrialization and desertification.
  
• The rate of degradation is increased exponentially against large scale agriculture.
• Severe loss of arable land is affecting our ability to feed the world population.
  
• Soil degradation is occurring globally, both in poor and wealthy countries.

Land Use and Degradation

Table TS2. Earth: Land use and degradation

Note: The estimates for Biologically Productive Land are from a 2002 FAO report: The State of Food and Agriculture FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2005, ISBN 92-5-105349-9

References [accessed February 1-17, 2008]

• http://www.ecostudies.org/reprints/Downing_et_al_2006_Limnol_Ocean.pdf
• http://www.csupomona.edu/~admckettrick/projects/ag101_project/html/destruction.html
• Institut de Recherche Pour le Développement (2008, January 8). Overgrazing Accelerating Soil Erosion In Northern Mexico. ScienceDaily. Retrieved February 15, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080107110358.htm
• http://www.webofcreation.org/Earth%20Solutions/Land%20Use.htm
• http://www.1world2travel.com/print.php?articleID=2830
• http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/tg/guide_glue.jsp?rd=lu&ds=8
• http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/tg/resources.jsp?rd=lu&ds=8
• http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11991&page=84
• http://hypertextbook.com/facts/
• http://www.fao.org/AG/magazine/9810/spot4.htm
• http://www.webofcreation.org/Earth%20Solutions/Land%20Use.htm
• UNFAO, “Forest Resources Assessment 2000″ http://www.fao.org/forestry/fo/fra/index.jsp
• http://www.fao.org/ES/ess/chartroom/default.asp
• http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/wdi/wdivar/wdivar1.html
• http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/a0050e/a0050e10b.htm
• http://assets.panda.org/downloads/wetlandsbrochurefinal.pdf
• http://www.ecostudies.org/reprints/Downing_et_al_2006_Limnol_Ocean.pdf
• http://home.alltel.net/bsundquist1/se4.html
• http://home.alltel.net/bsundquist1/la2.html
• http://home.alltel.net/bsundquist1/la0.html
• “It has been estimated that, today, 83% of the world’s free-ice lands are impacted, directly or indirectly, by humans” [Sanderson E. W., Jaiteh M, Levy M. A., Redford K. H., Wannebo A. V., Woolmer G., “The Human Footprint and the Last of the Wild”. Bioscience 52 (2002)]